Olympic Games Timeline

Olympic Games Timeline

Date

Place

Summary

Detailed Information

First recorded evidence of the ancient Olympic games. The games were held at Olympia. There was only one event – the men’s 200m sprint.

490BCE

Greece

First Marathon

The messenger Pheidippedes ran 42km from Sparta to Athens to bring the news of the Greek victory at the battle of Marathon.

424BCE

Greece

Decline

With large numbers of young men having to go to fight against the Spartans there were fewer athletes able to train and compete in the games and so they began to fall into decline.

394CE

Roman Empire

Olympics banned

The Roman Emperor, Theodosius I, abolished the games claiming they were a pagan event.

1612

Cotswolds, UK

Cotswold Olympick Games

Robert Dover, a barrister, founded the Cotswold Olympick Games. The games featured horse racing, fencing, shin-kicking and throwing the hammer.

1766

Greece

Ancient Olympia site found

Englishman Richard Chandler discovered the site of ancient Olympia.

1796

France

French Olympic Revival

L’Olympiade de la République was an olympic-style yearly competition held between 1796 and 1798 in France.

1850

Shropshire, UK

Wenlock Olympian Games

An Olympic-style yearly sports festival was established in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, UK by Dr William Penny Brookes. It continues to this day.

1859

Greece

Zappian Games

Dr William Penny Brookes persuaded Greek Evangelis Zappas to stage a revival of the ancient Olympic games. Brookes sent 10 pounds to be used as prize money.

1875

Greece

Olympia Excavated

A German-funded team of archeologists excavated the site of ancient Olympia.

1890

Shropshire, UK

Pierre de Coubertin visited Much Wenlock

Pierre de Coubertin was invited to attend the Much Wenlock games by Dr William Penny Brookes.

1894

France

IOC founded

The International Olympic Committee was founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin who took the title of President of the committee. Coubertin suggested that the Olympics be re-established as an international four-yearly event to be hosted by different countries each time.

1896

Athens Greece

First Modern Olympic Games

The first modern Olympic games was held in Athens, Greece. All winners were presented with an olive branch and a silver medal.

1900

Paris, France

Women competed for the first time

Paris hosted these games without a stadium. Most events were held in the Bois de Boulogne and swimming events were held in the river Seine. Women competed for the first time.

1904

St Louis, USA

Gold, silver and bronze medals were introduced

Gold, silver and bronze medals were introduced. Winners of events were given a gold medal, second place a silver medal and third place a bronze medal.

1908

London, UK

Olympic Stadium

For the first time the Olympics take place in a purpose built stadium. Figure skating was introduced as an Olympic sport. Australia and New Zealand competed together as Australasia.

1912

Stockholm, Sweden

Competitors from all 5 continents

Athletes from all 5 continents take part. A public address system and electric timing devices were used for the first time. The Decathlon and Pentathlon were introduced for the first time.

1914

–

Olympic Rings

Pierre de Coubertin designed the Olympic symbol of 5 interlocking rings to signify the 5 continents – Africa, Americas, Asia, Australasia and Europe

1916

Cancelled

Due to be held in Berlin this games was cancelled due to World War One

1920

Antwerp, Belgium

Doves first released

The Olympic rings symbol was used for the first time. It was depicted on a flag with a white background which has been used ever since and is known as the Olympic flag. The opening ceremony saw doves, which symbolise peace, released for the first time. Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary and Turkey were not allowed to take part because they were defeated in World War One

1924

Chamonix, France

Winter Olympics

The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix France

1924

Paris, France

Summer Olympics

The games returned to Paris France

1928

St Moritz, Switzerland

Winter Olympics

The second Winter Olympics held in St Moritz, Switzerland

1928

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Summer Olympics

Olympic Flame first lit

Amsterdam had previously bid for the 1920 and 1924 games. The Olympic flame was lit for the first time and burned throughout the entire competition. At the opening ceremony Greece led the athletes procession with the host nation at the end for the first time.

1930

Uruguay

First FIFA World Cup

Jules Rimet abandoned all hope of incorporating football into the Olympic games and established a separate competition – the FIFA World Cup.

1932

Lake Placid, USA

Winter Olympics

First Winter Olympics in America

1932

Los Angeles, USA

Summer Olympics

First use of a photo finish camera. First time winners stood on a tiered stand with national flags raised above them

1936

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

Winter Olympics

Alpine skiing was introduced for the first time.

1936

Berlin, Germany

First televised Olympics

Summer Olympics

First Olympics to be televised, however the footage could only be watched on local television. Basketball became an Olympic sport for the first time and was won by the USA.

1940

Cancelled

–

Cancelled due to World War Two

1944

Cancelled

–

Cancelled due to World War Two

1948

St Moritz, Switzerland

Winter Olympics

Germany and Japan were not invited to take part

1948

London, UK

Austerity Games

Summer Olympics

Dubbed the ‘Austerity Games’ as there was no money to fund a lavish spectacle.

1948

Stoke Mandeville Games

Forerunner to Paralympics

Sir Ludwig Guttmann organised a sports event for recuperating British veterans of World War Two to coincide with the London Games. It was called the Stoke Mandeville Games after the leading rehabilitation hospital at Stoke Mandeville and became an annual event.

1952

Oslo, Norway

Winter Olympics

After much discussion Germany and Japan were allowed to compete

1952

Helsinki , Finland

Summer Olympics

1956

Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy

Winter Olympics

Snow had to be imported into the country before the games could even begin.

1956

Melbourne, Australia

Boycotts

Summer Olympics

Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt boycotted the games in protest at the British, French and Israeli invasion of Egypt (Suez Crisis)
Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland boycotted the games in protest at the Soviet invasion of Hungary
The People’s Republic of China boycotted the games in protest at the games’ recognition of Formosa (now Taiwan)

1960

Squaw Valley, USA

Winter Olympics

The games were awarded to Squaw Valley despite its not being a city but a winter sports resort

1960

Rome, Italy

Summer Olympics

Many events took place in the ancient ruins around the city.

1960

Rome
Paralympics

Sir Ludwig Guttmann brought a team of disabled athletes to compete in a games parallel to the Olympics. The name was shortened to Paralympics.

1964

Innsbruck, Austria

Winter Olympics

Warm weather meant that the Austrian army had to bring lorry loads of snow from alpine regions before the games could begin

1964

Tokyo, Japan

Summer Olympics

First Olympics held in Asia

1968

Grenoble, France

Winter Olympics

An Olympic ban on branded equipment was revoked after many competitors protested that without donated equipment from sponsors they would not be able to compete at all

1968

Mexico City, Mexico

Summer Olympics

First Olympics held in Central America.
Tommie Smith and John Carlos both give the ‘black power’ salute as the US national anthem is played in protest against racial prejudice in America.

1972

Sapporo, Japan

Winter Olympics

First Winter Olympics to be held in Asia.

1972

Munich, Germany

Summer Olympics

Black September terrorists killed 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team

1976

Innsbruck, Austria

Winter Olympics

Originally awarded to Denver, USA but transferred to Innsbruck when Denver rejected the offer due to costs

1976

Montreal, Canada

Summer Olympics

31 nations boycotted the games as a protest against the New Zealand rugby team’s recent game with South Africa
Increased costs together with a reduced number of visitors nearly bankrupted Montreal

1980

Lake Placid, USA

Winter Olympics

The Winter games were held at Lake Placid for a second time

1980

Moscow, Soviet Union

Western boycott,

Summer Olympics

61 Nations refused to compete in these games as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

15 communist block countries refused to compete in these games in retaliation for the boycott of the Moscow Olympics 4 years earlier. Romania was the only communist block country to take part and came 2nd in the medals table.

1986

Amateur status requirement dropped

The IOC agreed to drop the requirement that competitors taking part in the Olympics had to have amateur status. The official Olympic Charter was amended accordingly.

1988

Calgary, Canada

Winter Olympics

The Winter games were extended to 16 days

1988

Seoul, South Korea

Summer Olympics

11 medalists disqualified for using banned substances. The cost of the games was met by the sale of TV broadcasting rights.

1992

Albertville, France

Winter Olympics

Albertville is the smallest place to host an Olympics

1992

Barcelona, Spain

Summer Olympics

Former Soviet Union members competed as a Unified Team and Germany competed as one nation following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

1994 winter

Lillehammer, Norway

Winter Olympics

Norway’s only Olympics to date

1996

Atlanta, USA

Summer Olympics

Television rights were sold for a record sum and Coca-Cola was a major sponsor of these games.

1998

Nagano, Japan

Winter Olympics

Women’s ice hockey debuted at this Olympics

2000

Sydney, Australia

Summer Olympics

Steve Redgrave won a fifth consecutive gold medal in rowing.

2002

Salt Lake City, USA

Winter Olympics

Despite members of the IOC accepting sweetners from the NOC Salt Lake City did not lose the right to stage these games.

2004

Athens, Greece

Summer Olympics

The games returned to Athens. The cost involved in staging the Olympics, especially with regard to increased security provision following the 9/11 terror attacks led to delays and venues were completed only just in time.

2006

Turin, Italy

Winter Olympics

The second Winter Olympics held in Italy

2008

Beijing, China

Summer Olympics

43 world records and 132 Olympic records were broken during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing.
Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in swimming the most ever at a single Olympics